Sorry, Ville

Seriously, can this guy catch a break? Er, bad choice of words. The view from the press box probably isn’t helping him any, as his team struggles to find an identity (and their man in the defensive zone) managing only 1 point in the standings in four games. Goaltending has been a bright spot, though they worked Miller so hard his groin kept him out of a game. Jhonas Enroth ably filled in, but eventually, your team might have to chip in a goal or three.

I wish I could say things are going to get better soon, but really, a team filled with teenagers, head cases and only one real scoring threat is not one that shakes off a slump easily. All the line-juggling and benchings in the world won’t help. Time, practice and teaching will. That can’t happen if a player is in a suit. Neither can it happen if he’s toiling on the fourth line alongside John Scott or Cody McCormick. Mistakes suck, and they are hard to watch. I get that. But they need to be made if they are to be learned from. Or, pessimistically, we need to see if a player CAN learn from them. So give me Grigorenko and Larsson, Girgensons and Ristolainen. Foligno, Pysyk, Hodgson – let’s see what we have. If we’re going to suffer, let’s suffer with a purpose.

Today’s lines at practice:

Vanek – Hodgson – Ott

Foligno – Ennis – Stafford

Girgensons – Larsson – Flynn

McCormick – Porter – Kaleta

On D:

Ehrhoff – Pysyk

Weber – Myers

McBain – Ristolainen

This is a problem. Yeah, Grigorenko hasn’t been great. But he’s not some 5 year veteran who needs to be shaken up by having to sit a few games. He’s a KID whose best chance is to work on his game NOW.